Competitive pressure behind thriving dummy schools

Despite not being allowed by the CBSE as well as the PSEB, several schools allow dummy admissions to Classes XI and XII. The CBSE does not approve of such admissions but parents and students are being misguided. Regular guidance by teachers is a must to do well in boards and thereafter. Dummy admissions should be stopped. A proper investigation must be carried out and the schools allowing dummy admissions must be fined. At the same time, schools must gear up to provide coaching for various competitive exams to their students. Instead of going to other private coaching centres, it is even better to be taught by schoolteachers who are already familiar with students. School examinations must be held on the pattern of competitive exams.

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Dr Shruti K Chawla, Chandigarh

Tuitions a waste of time 

Unless teachers perform their duties sincerely, good results can’t be achieved. If teachers work hard, then students won’t opt for tuitions. Earlier, there were no tuitions or dummy schools. Taking or giving tuitions was not considered healthy. Wherever there is a difficulty, students must be helped. The concept of tuitions will survive until teachers don’t give up their greed for money. Listening attentively to school lectures is a better of learning Tuitions are a waste of money and time. The Administration must close down dummy schools.

Opinder Kaur Sekhon, Chandigarh

Opt for biometric attendance In the technology-driven world, 

it is appalling that the authorities have failed to implement guidelines. This can only be the result of lack of will on the part 

of the authorities. To ensure that students have a minimum attendance at regular schools, biometric attendance should be made mandatory in all schools and the details should be displayed over the Internet for periodic checks. Any student falling short of the required attendance should not be allowed to sit for the final exams.

Maj Gen PS Mander (retd), Mohali

Take legal action

Dummy schools across the tricity are established business hubs rather than educational centres. These “jhola chaap” schools are not only fleecing innocent students and their parents but also imparting wrong values. The government must act tough against such schools and initiate legal action against the management of such schools besides their closure.

SS Arora, Mohali

Teachers need to make extra effort

Students of medical and non-medical streams opt out of their schools and prefer to join dummy schools. Their basic contention is that teachers in their schools do not prepare them for competitive examinations. Here it becomes important that teachers prove their credentials by imparting knowledge to those who are left behind to prove that students at regular schools perform better in competitive exams than those studying at dummy schools. In this way, students can be discouraged from entering dummy schools.

Nikita Kapur, Chandigarh

Reforms needed in education system

Such notorious educational institutions should be disaffiliated. There should be a stern legislation against such institutions in order to curb this growing unhealthy malpractice.  Our educational system needs radical reforms so that students are groomed for a competitive life with a great amount of confidence, sans any assistance from special coaching. Parents should also discourage such practices.  

Bhupinder S Sealopal, Mohali      

Make students’ life  stress-free

Our complete education system needs to be restructured. There is immense pressure on students, who are unable to decide their priorities. They cannot succeed in competitive exams without help from coaching institutes. Without sufficient attendance, they are not able to appear for Classes XI & XII exams. They are hopping from one tuition centre to other and trying to make the most of free time. This is increasing competition, which in turn contributes to the growth of coaching institutes and dummy schools. We should put a check on all these activities and try to make life of students stress-free.

Kamalpreet Kaur, Mohali

Proper monitoring need of the hour

The failure of the authorities in checking the fee hike and other unfair trade practices by schools has already compelled parents to approach the  court. The dummy system of admissions is prospering due to a lack of monitoring and the implementation of rules. The Education Department is being headed by bureaucrats, who are not well-versed with the education system and act on the advice of their sycophant staff. Therefore, a change in the system with proper monitoring and implementation of the rules is required.

AS Ahuja, Chandigarh

Make registration of centres mandatory

Countless unauthorised tuition centres are running in the tricity, which are not only illegal but also deceive students and their parents 

in the name of education. The Administration should make it mandatory for all tuition centres to get themselves registered with details of courses being run by them, along with fee details. The authorities should conduct frequent raids too.

Balbir Singh Batra, Mohali

Hold school heads responsible for violations

A team of Education Department officials should be constituted to check the presence of students in schools. On the other hand, school heads should also be made accountable and held responsible for any irregularity. If such steps are taken sincerely by the Administration, the number of fake institutes will start shrinking automatically.  

Surinder Paul Wadhwa

Stop centres from holding classes in school hours

The business of dummy schools and coaching centres will stop thriving if our schools provide quality education and students do not require coaching for any competitive exam. The UT authorities and the CBSE should ensure that coaching centres do not hold classes during school hours. 

Vidya Sagar Garg, Panchkula

Train teachers for competitive exams

The coaching industry has given birth to dummy admissions in recognised schools. The schools show the result of board examinations without putting in labour and coaching centres get high monetary returns. Taking dummy admission in a private school and devoting the entire time to private tuitions has become a new trend. Several schools in the city allow dummy admissions. The CBSE does not approve it. Government schools do not allow dummy admissions and this is a major reason for students not taking admission there after Class X. Almost all private schools are following this but there is no check. Stringent measures are needed against schools that are misguiding parents and their children. Schoolteachers can be given training for competitive exams. Extra classes can be arranged for the purpose.

Vineet Kapoor, Panchkula

Dummy schools let students focus on competition  

Call  them  coaching  factories  or something else,  dummy  schools  give an opportunity to students to  opt for the career of their choice   early in life. On the contrary, students of regular schools, who  wish to simultaneously prepare  for competitive exams soon after daily regular classes, have to work  very hard to first attend regular school classes and then attend  coaching classes. The results of such  students are not that  encouraging. And those students, who go for coaching only  after  passing Class XII, lose a year or so  in comparison to the students at dummy schools where the emphasis is more on the coaching of the chosen subjects as per the  aptitude of a student. Thereby, it  saves their year. These schools  provide a safe shortcut at a price and are therefore quite sought  after.

SC Luthra, Chandigarh

Nip the evil in the bud

I fail to understand when such type of schools started functioning in the city and what action was taken by the authorities in the initial stages. The motto must be –nip the evil in the bud. I am of the firm opinion that unless the officials concerned are not held responsible, such practices will continue. The aim should be to take action against those violating the rules and regulations in this regard. School heads must be held accountable.

Tarlok Singh, Manimajra

Hold checks

It’s not only dummy schools but also dummy admissions in recognised schools that are a problem. Unrecognised schools should not be allowed at all. Principals of all schools should be asked to furnish half-yearly statements of the list of students on their rolls and their attendance. Random checks should then be conducted to verify the same. For any false or ‘dummy’ admission,  strict action should be taken against the school.

Tejinder Singh Kalra, Mohali

Good students don’t require coaching

It is right that some schools don’t prepare students for competitive exams. If a child wants to go for coaching classes, timings should be different from school hours. The entire concept of dummy schools is wrong. Good students do not need coaching at all. Such institutions are just minting money. If students continue to skip classes in favour of coaching, they are bound to miss an important part of school education. If the child is regular at school and pays attention to lectures, he/she does not require a coaching class or tuition.

Arshia Mittal, Ambala

Schools should refuse dummy admissions 

Both government and parents should be held responsible for this mess. I request parents to show more faith in traditional schools rather than coaching centres, whose results never present a true picture. If these coaching centre are so good, then why don’t they have 100 per cent success rate?  I want to know what happens to the students who do not pass any of the competitive exams. In the end, disgruntled students seek refuge with schoolteachers only. It’s high time that we the educators question the morality of running such schools. School should refuse dummy admissions and report about others who indulge in such practices. In the tricity, only two schools were found facilitating dummy admissions but the truth is that every school is practically doing this. We need to shed this culture of pleasing a few and earn a little more. “Kya farak padta hai” attitude needs to go. Schools need to take this initiative because they alone can eradicate this menace.

Misha Brar

Provide quality education, infra at govt institutions

In the past, private educational institutions were opened by religious and social organisations with a missionary zeal.  Now, the missionary zeal has given space to professional zeal to mint money by allowing  dummy admissions on the pretext of training students for different professional competitions because our curricula in government schools is woefully outdated and needs revamping with emphasis on skill development and research besides  diversification. Teachers should be equipped with modern technology. If the Administration can ensure improvement in standards of education and quality infrastructure, including recruitment of teachers, good laboratories and libraries, no students will go to the dummy schools.

SK Khosla, Chandigarh

Authorities to blame

The constant failure of authorities in implementing the guidelines is an admitted fact. Education, a reformatory process, should not be allowed to be exploited for materialistic gains. To check mushrooming of dummy schools, registration, performance standards, academic learning provisions, periodical governmental checking, fee limit, financial as well as performance  audit needs to be done.

MPS Chadha, Mohali

We have made education a business

The problem of dummy schools is worrisome. We are making education a business. We should frame laws so that students are not taken for a ride by these institutes to mint money. It can only be stopped if we rein in coaching institutes and change timings of coaching centres as well as schools. 

Bharat Bhushan Sharma

Parents should shun practice

Some schools have become money-making institutions. Tuition centres charge heavy amount from parents, who readily pay the same for their child’s bright future.  Schools must recruit qualified teachers and provide quality education to all their students so that they need not go anywhere else.  The authorities should be strict in implementing the guidelines and penalise those allowing dummy classes. Parents should also be responsible and not go for dummy classes. 

Rashi Srivastava, Chandigarh

Tarnishing bond of  teacher, student

Education is now a misnomer for teaching shops. The so-called schools are just busy minting money. Parents are too busy to pay attention to their own children. Schools or glorified creches are offering education at a price. Another aspect is dummy admissions. Parents and children are made to believe that to sit for competitive exams, schools can’t do the needful. So, parents end up paying a hefty fee to coaching centres and schools. The end result is a class of students who forget what a school looks like,  what activities are going on in their school and who their teachers are. The schools in order to accommodate them create false attendance record. The student-teacher bond has become a thing of the past.

Gurjusjit Singh

Attract students to regular schools

Checking of tuition centres is not the solution. These centres are teaching in school hours because students are ready to attend their classes in school time. By doing this, both students as well as  school staff get the benefit of it. It is the responsibility of schools and the government to attract students to their regular classes. Biometric attendance of students may be one of the solution but the quality of education in schools can play a major role in controlling the mushrooming of dummy schools in the tricity.

Gautam, Ambala

Reform teaching practices

Officials should regularly visit schools to ensure the presence of students there. If students are not taking interest in regular classes, then there is a need to check teaching practices. Baord marks  should be included while preparing the merit list of competitive exams. Coaching centres are running because students approach them. 

Umang, Ambala

Go smart, shut ‘money-minting’ institutes

Nitin Jain

Should I join a ‘dummy’ school for cracking competitive exams? Is it necessary to join a ‘dummy’ school to figure among the top 100 in the IIT-JEE? Defying proper answers, such questions make most students turn to the so-called schools minting money in the name of giving ‘quality’ education.

Affiliation from any school board is the sole requirement for opening a ‘dummy’ school which makes hay as the students enrolled with them toil hard (read study) elsewhere (read coaching centres) to shine and pursue their career dreams.

‘Dummy’ schools are flourishing in the trici